NYC Teachers Reflect on 9/11

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"At 8:00 a.m. on 9/11, over 8,700 children and 400 teachers showed up for school in downtown Manhattan as they did every morning. Within two hours, more than 5,000 students and nearly 200 teachers were running for their lives." -Linda Lantieri, contributor to Forever After.

As the fifth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Americans, and New Yorkers in particular, seem ready to see the incidents of September 11, 2001, replayed in the media. The recent films "United 93" and "WorldTradeCenter" tell the horrific story of that day from the point of view of the heroes on the ground and in the air. Yet, stories of some of the youngest among those affected - the children in New York City schools and the teachers who looked after them - have yet to be told.

Forever After: New York City Teachers on 9/11 is the forum for those stories. A collection of first-hand accounts of what happened in New York City schools on 9/11 and thereafter, the book was edited by Teachers College Press, with Maureen Grolnick as Consulting Editor. Contributors include Professor Emeritus Maxine Greene and TC alumni Michelle Fine, Isaac Brooks and Stacey Fell-Eisenkraft. It comprises stories told by 19 educators, each reflecting on how their lives and the lives of young people they worked with-'"their students, their colleagues-'"were forever changed by the experience. As Carole Saltz, Director of Teachers College Press, reflects in her preface, "Some simply retell their experiences, and in doing so allow readers to know their struggles to keep children physically and emotionally safe on that day, with no blueprint for action. Others bring us into the present as they think through what they have taken away from the experience to make them stronger and more thoughtful at their craft."

A special reading of the book will be held on September 18 in the Gottesman Libraries, with presentations by some of the contributors. In addition, the Libraries will exhibit publications and newspaper headlines relating to the events of 9/11.